Classification

Chuckhi(alternative name: Chukot; Chukchi): 7 742 speakers according to the census of the Russian Federation (2002)

Kerek : 2 speakers according to (ethnologue.com) and extinct according to Fortescue (2005)

Koryak : 3 019 speakers according to the census of the Russian Federation (2002)

Southern Branch

Itelmen : less than 100 speakers according to the SIL

Comments on the classification of Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages :

These languages are sometimes classified with isolate neighbors Nivkh and Yukaghir in a hypothetical family of languages called “paleosiberian”. But this hypothetical grouping may actually be more geographical in nature and still remains to be linguistically demonstrated.

There is a distinction between the Chukchi ‘reindeer herders’ of the interior and the “maritime” Chukchi of the coast. Each group has its own form of speech and it is not clear if they are mutually comprehensible. They could, nevertheless, be dialect variants of the same language.

Are Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages in danger?

Yes. All these languages are classified as endangered by Unesco. It is quite possible that Itelmen and Alyutor are in the process of becoming extinct, and it is highly likely that Kerek is already an extinct language today.

Sorosoro is a program carried by the WOLACO Association (World Languages ​​Conservancy) and supported by the Laboratory of Excellence ASLAN (Advanced Studies on language complexity) from the University of Lyon.